Privacy Policy — World Youth Council

1. Who We Are

The World Youth Council (WYC) is a non-commercial, volunteer-run youth policy initiative. We operate this website at worldyouthcouncil.org and collect limited personal data solely for the purposes described in this policy.

For any privacy-related questions, you can reach us at privacy@worldyouthcouncil.org.

2. What Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that you provide to us voluntarily — primarily through our application form. This includes:

First and last name
Email address
Country of residence and nationality
Academic institution, field of study, and academic level
Role preference (Researcher or Ambassador)
Motivation and background information submitted in the application

We do not collect any data through cookies, tracking scripts, or third-party analytics tools. This website is statically hosted and does not use behavioural tracking of any kind.

3. How We Use Your Data

Data submitted through the application form is used exclusively for the following purposes:

Evaluating your application to join WYC as a researcher or ambassador
Communicating with you about your application status
Onboarding you as a WYC member if your application is accepted

We will never sell, share, or disclose your personal data to third parties for commercial purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), our legal basis for processing your personal data is your explicit consent, given when you submit your application. You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us.

5. Data Storage and Retention

Application data is stored securely and accessed only by WYC's core team members involved in the admissions process. We retain application data for a maximum of 12 months after submission. After this period, data is permanently deleted unless you have joined WYC, in which case a minimal membership record is retained for as long as you remain a member.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

Request access to the personal data we hold about you
Request correction of inaccurate data
Request deletion of your data at any time
Withdraw consent for data processing
Lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@worldyouthcouncil.org.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The most recent version will always be available on this page, with the date of last update noted at the top. Continued use of the website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.